Zazzle review: Online fraud 56

I am an artist whom had signed up with zazzle hoping to find an alternative sales resource. I too had a complaint against my use of 1 free image I put on a postage stamp.I had used a few free images that passed their screening for their 'keds shoe's' contract, all other art was mine. My hard drive died about 2 months ago it took 3 weeks before I was able to aqcuire & install a new one.Finally back online I see my email had three notices from zazzle & regarding 'their' issue with the stamp.The third notice stated they tried to contact me & deleted my account within three days.If i were sick or injured i don't believe they tried very hard at all to contact me because they also have your phone number!Also why delete the entire "approved" revenue generating products for one 'not yet verified' product seems very extreme and over the top to me.I guess it's because I'm not famous and rich like them.If I were famous like some of the celebrity designers they have on there i'm certain they would extend every courtesy toward maintaining my designs.I did sell 1 child's apron that my mom bought for my niece and I have yet to get payment royalty for that sale!I'm not happy with them at all, I called several times, the customer service don't know the zazzle administration & all they say is email them.I got zero response from several emails sent to them.I will re-register with them to give my art another opportunity to be purchased by those that want it.If this sort of problem occurs again you will see my complaints again and I may go further than this site.I appreciate the 'ComplaintsBoard' existence.I will check every site that I intend to engage with that involves monetary transactions from now on, recovering from scams or unscrupulous businesses is far from my expectations of living the american dream. - M.J.

Zazzle has removed several of my products due to allegations of copyright violation. I have never used any copyrighted work. I know in particular who the allegations came from and know for an absolute fact none of their material is used in my products. My products are however satire of their products so perhaps they just dont like the satirical humor.

Zazzle offers no opportunity for artists to dispute allegations or defend their work. If they get an allegation they just remove the work mindlessly. I kept re-posting one work and it kept getting taken down until I actually got an attorney involved. Im searching for another attorney to bring a suit against Zazzle for their indiscriminate removal of work based on any allegation whatsoever without offering the artist an opportunity to dispute the allegation.

I understand them removing any work which actually violates copyright laws but apparently Zazzle knows absolutely nothing at all about actual copyright laws. Once I got the attorney involved to explain it to them on the one product they stopped removing it. I dont want to go through that with every product they decide to remove so I think a lawsuit to slap them upside the head might be in order.

Same with me. Several products (as of today) magically disappeared and I was told after the fact. Every single one of my designs is original and there are a few that are legally protected under the law as defined by "parody". The First Amendment guarantees protection to both parody and satire, yet this subtle distinction is utterly lost on the goons at Zazzle. I've notified the BBB and several high profile blogs (thinking about going to the news media next) with my particular dilemma. Not sure any of them will understand what exactly is at stake, other than a charming story about the "little guy" fighting a mega-corporation. Ugh.

I ordered a card for my 30th wedding anniversary nine days before the event. I thought that this was plenty of time for such a simple order however it is yet to arrive. To be fair the small print does say 5 - 12 days but who a: reads the small print or b: expects anything to take that long these days. I would recommend that you make a card yourself on the computer - as I ended up doing!

I spent hours and hours designing a calendar on Zazzle.com. I took great care to avoid trademarked text and images because I have had horror stories with Zazzle's arbitrary, incompetent and secretive content review policy. They make you play guessing games. They claim trademark/copyright violations but won't say exactly what. They claim image violations and then link me me to an image I photographed of an object I own! They make you try and guess if there is any complainant at all. And if you ask for any kind of reasonable details to fix the problem they say it cannot be divulged because of legal policy. Oh but it gets even better. This time around they removed the calendar from public sale AND ALSO removed it from my private list and even from my in-progress designs. It is completely gone. So I LOST HOURS AND HOURS of design work. Zazzle sucks.

Don't waste your time and money, they sent me the wrong product twice and missed my deadline for weeding invitation. Website look good but service and product horrible.. Not recommended at all, be carful

Just found out there was a hold put on my credit card because zazzle.com tried to put a $2000 + charge on it . I've never had any business dealings with these people. Out and out FRAUD

lol you are lucky you were saved! zazzle always blocks credit card fraud cases and cancels all orders regarding this! it was zazzle who saved you actually!
MG

yeah they missed your "wedding" deadline but they are always in time for "wedding" deadlines in fact even sooner!
millions of bride order through zazzle and love what they receive, infact they base their whole wedding on zazzle invites!

yeah they missed your "weeding" deadline but they are always in time for "wedding" deadlines in fact even sooner!
millions of bride order through zazzle and love what they receive, infact they base their whole wedding on zazzle invites!

You may not have ever done business with Zazzle, but who ever stole your CC number sure tried to. Sounds like Zazzle saved you from some serious heart ache.

You should thank Zazzle for NOT charging it! Obviously your a victim of theft and it wasn't from ZAZZLE! Maybe you should apologize to Zazzle for the fraud comment and thank them instead?

So Zazzle said it would take up to 12 days - and you knew this - Maybe you should have planned better? Just a thought. . .

I had ordered a mousepad to be delivered to my friend as a gift and the website said it would be 15 working days for it to be delivered. It has been 3 more than 3 months now and it still has not been delivered. Also the website is bad, There is no customer service or contact numbers to call.

The worst website to order anything.

I agree with all of you above. I really believe that they should be hit with a class-action lawsuit. In my particular situation, I produced a line of t-shirt designs in response to the infamous Casey Anthony murder trial. I took what I figured was obviously in the public domain, and put a mug shot of Casey Anthony on the t-shirt along with some satirical text. Then I discovered all of my work magically disappeared. So, I created some more, and those were taken down, too. Then I discovered emails from Zazzle saying that my designs were being removed because they violated Zazzle's content policy. I emailed them back, and they said that "Zazzle has received a letter from attorneys representing the Estate of Caylee Marie Anthony." And, they never explained what exactly was in violation, so I assumed it was Casey's mug shot, but didn't agree how Casey could possibly be connected to Caylee in terms of alleged copyright over Casey the mother. Then I just left the satirical words on the shirt, no mention at all of Caylee. Guess what? Those, too, were removed with no clarification and no opportunity to defend the words I chose--no photos or images!. I requested the alleged letter Zazzle received from the purported attorneys representing the Estate of Caylee Marie Anthony, and Zazzle's response was that it was confidential. I really feel that the right attorney could go after the Estate of Caylee Marie Anthony for tortious interference with my dealings with Zazzle. Basically, Zazzle seems to be a cool company, but when you get into it, you are either a person who believes in free expression or you believe in Natziism.

Terrible service. I ordered a t-shirt with a pumpkin on it over two weeks ago and it still hasn't come. I don't need it now as Halloween has been and gone. It says on their website 3-5 days for delivery. When you look at the small print it says 3-5 days after manufacture and manufacture can take up to 12 days. Waste of time. Stay away!

Awful service. Placed an order on 04/12/11 and still not received. There is no tracking order to find out where the package is even though delivery charges were extremely expensive. I've emailed their customer service days ago and no reply. Do not use them.

Yes, they can make a big fuzz over the most simple item. Shipping time can be extremely long and the shipping costs are very high.

First Order received damaged. Second Order never received, emails ignored. Don't waste your money, time and stress with these people...buy what you need locally!

I ordered two bumper stickers from Zazzle. I thought they were way overpriced. I received the order and simply thought that I would never deal with them again. Today I found that my credit card was billed for $9.95 for a "Black membership." I called to complain and was stunned by their convoluted "explanations" - I persisted and was transferred to a "supervisor" who again tried to convince me that I had agreed to purchase this "Black Membership." (Evidently this is hidden in the "fine print" somewhere on their site.) I made my point that their website clearly states in big letters right at the top "100% SATISFACTION GUARANTEED" and that since I was NOT satisfied, i demanded a refund. I was told that my information would be forwarded to their "Finance Department" and that I would hear from them within 30 days. When I asked to be transferred to the "Finance Department" I was told that the "Finance Department" does not accept phone calls. I have filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau and with my credit card company. I will persist in my efforts to receive a FULL refund.

Long time to deliver a simple poster. Same day bought also a made to measure frame from other website and it promptly arrived. Frame now lying on the floor whilst waiting for the poster to arrive. Last time I buy from them. Also delivery costs quite high for such a small item. this is why I feel even more crossed.

Customer service information has always been listed on the site. If you would have clicked the "contact us" link you would have seen their email button as well as telephone numbers, hours of business etc. This information is also in the order confirmation email that you receive, with links to track your order from processing, production and shipping.

I paint parody. All paintings are my own work and I don't make tracings (for example, I'll re-create Marilyn Monroe with a fish head). Zazzle has now removed 3 of my works. It takes days and sometimes weeks to produce them. Good thing there are places like Redbubble and Deviant Art, that will respect my work and the effort I put into it. I mean, really, after 3 invalid removals of my intellectual property without explanation or some kind of discourse, I'm becoming more and more reluctant to waste my time posting anything with them. I'm also going to start telling friends who buy my work from them to get it from someplace else.

Zazzle.com is running a scam. I purchased a couple postcards from them and 31 days later I'm sent a PayPal bill for a "Black Membership". When I inquired about the charges this is the reply I got. "Our records show you signed up for Zazzle Black free trial on 5/9/2012. Unfortunately you did not opt out within the required 30 days and as such you are signed up for Zazzle Black Standard for the promotional price of $9.95 per year."
Apparently, when you make your first purchase with them, they enroll you for a trial membership somewhere in the fine print. If you don't cancel the trial membership, they bill you for it 31 days later.
Use spreadshirt.com or cafepress.com, I have never had any problem with these.

Worst website ever! They make horrible work, print words on top of words, then make you go through a horrible and long process to get your money back, and charge $7 for shipping for one card. But do I get that money back? Nope. Horrible, ridiculous and will never order from them again.

It's a print on demand service. What did you expect? Don't blame the site because you didn't actually understand the product is made to order and not just being pulled off a shelf and tossed into a box to be mailed to you. Git.

I too have had copyright issues of satire and parody with Zazzle. It's my only real complaint with them so far. I was on the line with a rep for about half an hour trying to explain to them how satire is protected against infringement. They also dropped another product of mine because they have a policy against using names of real people in case they get upset and sue Zazzle. The fact the person had been dead for over 80 years didn't seem to get any traction with their rep. I even pointed out other people were selling products with the person's name on it and Zazzle didn't seem to have a problem with that. I have otherwise had great experiences with Zazzle, but their understanding of copyright is lacking to say the least.

I have bought many things from Zazzle, and they were always high quality so never in a million yeard did I think if I chose the economy tee that it would be such terrible print quality. I thought the tee itself may not be as nice, but I didn't realize the printing on the tee would appear lighter and cheap-looking. The Scooby and Minnie tee are simply not usable. :-( So upset.

Zazzle may be OK if you are the sort of person who plans everything months or weeks in advance but if you are like the rest of us AVOID! My birthday card order took 16 days from placing the order and arrived well after my father-in-law's birthday.

I customized 14 cards, some of which had the same design on the front. I had a different message in every card, and after spending 2 hours creating the cards and entering addresses (no email address book link), when I got to purchasing and providing shipping addresses, it was impossible to tell which card was which as customisations can't be viewed from there. Also, the shipping charges varied wildly even though all were for the UK and very poor value, up to £3.30 for N. Ireland. A huge waste of time.

Ordered 2 mugs 11 days ago(12-29-13)-received one mug with a receipt saying both mugs were in this very small box so I emailed them and asked them-where is my other mug? and got back a response for me to look "very" good inside this small box-to make sure I didn't miss the other mug! ha! so I responded that I looked and if they do not send me the other mug -to take it off my cc bill asap! I have ordered from them before so was" un "pleasantly surprised this had happened so no matter what happens after this-they have lost another customer! If I am not happy with what happens after this-I will complain to many sources(BBB-Angie's list, ect)...and to my cc company as well.

Ordered 100 business cards using Zazzle template Dec 31. Credit card charged. Order goes immediately to 'Processed' which means I cannot cancel. Seven days later, they cannot estimate when they might ship... and have no explanation, and no other response. Argh ! Never again.

I have used Zazzle.com to post my art and generate sales, for at least many years now. At first, they seemed to be on their game. I create original abstract and various anime type art. I went from generating 1500.00 a year in sales on average, down to 50.00 for 2012. I have spoken to other artist that use their sites and they say, zazzle uses an variation of the online bait and switch now. "I can neither prove nor disprove this" but it made sense. They showed me on their computers using my site as a reference. Entered my site and went to a product and instead of going to my product and a shopping cart, it went to a list of "similar products you may like" bypassing my works in favor of their premium members. This is not my only complaint, that 50.00 I made for 2012, they are still holding. First they said I didn't have my tax id on file, so they could not send the check. So... I updated "again" all my information. Then they said there was a delay on payment after filing for a check to be sent. Then they raised the cap on minimal and said they would have to charge a 5.00 fee for less than minimal to send payment. Now, I cant even access the payment option on my site. 5 months and still no check. They got their money but I cant get mine... Seems zazzle has been engaging in fraud, and other illegal behavior. Oh and one last thing, as in the above posts, I had them 3 times, remove my artwork saying it was disputed. Even after I threatened to sue them and provided hard copies, file dates and original proofs, they never let me re-post my own designs. Over all, I am very displeased with this company and feel it has become one big sham!

Like Zazzle.Com, the site moderators like to play games with the designers. If you attempt to become a non-hourly / non-salary but are contributing work with these companies, and are being paid a consignment fee or registered as an independant contractor, these companies enforce rules and policies that break the IRS rules. Sadly enough these companies create preferential treatment. It is not worth the effort to try and submit work for these companies. Stock Logos does not moderate the art content, and only has applicable rules to submit content. However, as power games, or delay in publishing content, like Zazzle they will irrationally prohibit exceptional design content. Biz-logos.com at least admits that they have strict guidelines, and that they do have an in-house company that designs for this site, and that it partner company www.logoground.com abides by these standards. Unfortunately, there designs are limited to the old standard of 2-Color print process designs. Places like Zazzle, and Stock Logos are a real insult to professional designers. The content management, or internal monitoring team, like to create un-realistic or imaginary reasons to prohibit a design from going up, or in Zazzle's case, they just delete it. It really is pathetic to not be getting paid and be subject to such insulting scrutiny. The games with www.stocklogo.com, are just like that with Zazzle. If you aren't a real designer, and just like to fight, then these places would be perfect. For professional designers, these games get old real fast.

I just got my second rash of copyright dispute emails (it happened a few ago too). In my case, it's not parody or satire or anything that could possibly be gray. It was my own artwork for a logo for an annual convention I'm involved with, and a friend's artwork (who gave me permission) for a different year's logo. Like the others, no names of who disputed it were given. I hardly sell anything because of the specific topic, so I'm thinking they target people who aren't making them money, and send bogus copyright dispute emails. I sent them a letter back, but frankly I don't care if they delete me. Just delete the whole account. I can't be bothered with companies that play like this, especially after reading the above comments.

This site is so horrible, i placed an order for 4 shirts and the order was canceled because i had a couple chuck noris jokes on one. I guess it was too horrible of a shirt to be printed. lol what a F****** joke this site is. I hope they go bankrupt.

Zazzle just sent me 30 emails today, deleting most of my online store. I created all the Fonts with Photoshop and all my work is graphic design, hand sketched, or painted. When i work with certain work i modify the image 40% or more to create my own version which legal. I have creative commons and copyrights for all of my work through flickr.com. Never made a cent with zazzle since july 2013.After 2 months they just now reported my work and deleted it. I think I have some serious haters and people who are jealous making my life harder by clicking that report button. I called customer service at zazzle and they couldn't provide me with a phone number and just gave me the run around. Also on my store page it says "awesome! you have no products under review" but i got 30 emails all in one day saying i do...

A wheel is a wheel . a door is a door . a ring is a ring. a shoe is a shoe. a shirt is a shirt .pants are pants. a table is a table. a cup is a cup. a chair is a chair, a house is house.comic books are based on Greek mythology which has a copyright All these things are super similar yet companies still continue to reproduce the same exact looking product with subtle differences. Mice should sue Disney for the mickey mouse concept. Everything is taken from somewhere.Bridges, watches, text, languages, etc

Tenchushinobi: the idea of changing artwork by 40% (some people put it at 10%, some 25%) in order for it to be "legal" is a myth. it simply isn't true. Go look it up in copyright laws, and you won't find it mentioned everywhere. What is and is not considered "derivative" for the sake of copyright is a subjective ruling to be made in each case where it becomes an issue.

I think Zazzle's interpretations of "derivative work" is incredibly loose and self-serving (just try doing a DC Comics parody product ever since they took on DC as client, for example), but this false belief many artists have about there being an objective amount of an original piece that needs to be changed in order for a work to no longer be considered derivative really needs to die out.

Our company has numerous Zazzle sites and we own dozens of registered Copyrights / Trademarks. It's clear that their "Content Review Team" (CRT) has issues. We have been subject to the same treatment as other Artists / Illustrators. There is no logic or supporting documentation ever provided by Zazzle's CRT regarding removal or refusal to process. This applies to both Public / Non-Public work. The CRT constantly contradicts themselves and makes errors at the expense of their site users. We have also noticed over the years a decline in the quality of Zazzle's Products / Work. Getting back to the CRT, on countless occasions we have been accused of infringing the registered Copyrights / Trademarks we own. Supplying Zazzle with proof is a waste of time / effort. We have come to believe that the CRT is nothing more than some "Snot Faced Kid on a power trip. You will never get to see the entity behind the curtain. We feel the frustration of "All" who have been subjected to the CRT's ridiculous actions. A Class Action Law Suite may very well be in order but ask yourself, is it / are they even, worth the time / money. The best recourse is to shut down the Zazzle sites and move on. At the moment, we have had the same Trademarked / Copyrigted image processed in Cards / Stamps but declined as a "Button". Either the image violates Copyright / Trademark Law or it doesn't. Again, there is no rational explanation for Zazzle's CRT actions. We wish all of you reading this continued success and "Happy Holidays"!
MrKIAI